Hidden monsters
by UndeadFae
Summary: Losing someone important is always a burden. Diane knows this well, but won't give up until she finds him. Sometimes though, the truth is far more terrifying than you could expect. (Part 1 of the Demon Blood series)


Mindlessly gazing outside the window, a lonely girl was lost in her own world.

Weeks had passed already since the Ten Commandments first showed up, bringing death and destruction with them. The difference in power between the sins and them was frightening, and for once, Diane wasn't sure that even their captain could actually do something against them.

The imminent battle, however, wasn't what really scared her now.

King wasn't there.

She never got a chance to actually talk with him, and before she knew it, he was gone. Missing. Maybe even dead, no one really knew.

It happened too fast, one moment the fairy and her were alone in the forest, the next they were fighting for their lives... Then, she woke up alone in a clear, her head throbbing, and the forest as peaceful as ever. For a moment, she almost thought it had been nothing more than a dream, but her fresh injuries told her otherwise. That, and the fact that no matter how much she cried his name or looked for him, Diane couldn't find King anywhere. Later, the other sins came to help, and even the Holy Knights contributed to the search; first days, then weeks passed, but King was nowhere to be found.

Nobody dared to say it out loud, but everyone was convinced that the Fairy King was dead. Murdered by the demons.

Diane refused to believe so, not until there was a corpse, and she was sure that the rest of the sins were thinking something like that too.

Hell, even Ban, who didn't seem to stand King, looked more somber and angry than usual lately. King's disappearance -yes, disappearance, because no, he wasn't dead, he just couldn't be dead- was really getting to them.

Despite everyone else giving up on the search, Diane wouldn't just sit down and abandon all hope of ever seeing him again; and so, many more long days and sleepless nights passed, the giantess stubbornly looking everywhere, crying his name over and over again until her throat ached and she couldn't speak for days. When exhaustion took over and she was forced to rest, she would rarely be blessed by a dreamless slumber.

Other times, she wasn't so lucky.

Nightmares plagued her mind, with gruesome and terrifying images of King's corpse, massacred and twisted beyond recognition, sometimes replaced by the quiet loneliness of a silent limbo. Diane wasn't sure of which one was the worst.

However, there was no time for grieving. Their enemies wouldn't wait for them to get over it before attacking; if anything, it was the time to be more wary than ever, the Commandments would likely use this moment to strike. And sure enough, soon they got word of a near town being under attack.

Secretly wiping her tears, Diane was ready to smash every demon she would find into the ground. Nobody else had to suffer the loss of a loved one if she could avoid it.

The town was barely recognizable anymore. There were very few intact buildings, and the blood… the blood was everywhere. Soulless bodies that could hardly be called human beings anymore, mutilated and shredded without mercy. One could only hope they suffered a quick death.

The sins weren't even sure if there were any survivors. It didn't mean that they could just ignore this massacre, though.

And so they fought, they all fought with all their might against the army of demons coming their way.

It wasn't a hard fight, far from it, and by the end of it, the sins were barely scratched, but something was... off. Then, they realized the problem. There was another power nearby. Part demon... and part fairy. That couldn't be right.

Whatever it was, the source of said power was approaching their position, and fast. There was no time to rest, they had to be ready for the real fight, there was only one person between the Commandments' files with that kind of power… and Diane was more than prepared to beat him into a bloody pulp over and over until he would reveal the truth.

"What's wrong? Did you see a ghost?" a very familiar voice taunted them, and upon hearing it, Diane turned, letting out a surprised gasp at the sight she knew so well.

"K... King?" no, that couldn't be true, that couldn't be King. King was kind and sweet, always worrying for the others more than for himself; he was not so cold, he did not enjoy murdering innocents, and he most certainly was not part of the demon clan.

"That's not my name." he said in a matter-of-fact tone, black eyes -why are they black, they're supposed to be brown and warm, not cold black- still fixed on the giantess. "My name is Harlequin, you know? Why did I even choose to go by that?" Ki- Harlequin was just floating in circles without a care in the world, looking completely unfazed by the blood on his hands and clothes, the pair of dark, smoke-like wings on his back occasionally flapping, moving just like normal wings, like they've always been there. Diane was frozen in her place, doing nothing but staring in mute horror, almost dropping her hammer. This couldn't be right- this had to be a dream or a nightmare or something like that, it just couldn't be real, King would never join the demons, he would never do any of these horrible things like it was nothing... right? And yet the proof was right there, floating right in front of her.

"King... w-what happened to you..?" before she could even realize it, tears were running down her cheeks. There were so many things she wanted to say, to yell at him, but the words died in her throat, and Diane wasn't sure she had the strength to even hear the answers. Right there and then, her whole world had crashed over her, and she couldn't bring herself to bother to get it together. "Why are you- w-what are you-"

"I joined the demons now. Isn't it obvious?" he nonchalantly said, pointing at the demon mark crossing over his right eye, treating it like it wasn't something too important. Then, he looked at the rest of the sins, everyone of them ready to attack if needed.

He couldn't really afford to waste anymore time there, and he knew it.

Casually shrugging as he looked around, admiring the disaster he brought upon the town, Harlequin turned once again to face Diane, a smile appearing on his face, and the next second, he was floating right in front of her, and for a brief moment, he looked just like the little fairy she knew and loved; even though Diane knew very well how fake that smile and that warmth were, she didn't want to accept it just yet. Maybe when she would wake up later, it would have really been just a bad dream...

"Don't worry, everything's fine, don't cry, ok?" his voice sounded so sweet, so caring, that for a moment she did believe him. With a hand covered in darkness -why was his hand like that just what the hell happened to him- he wiped her tears, careful to not hurt her, and then lightly patted her nose, sending a shiver down her spine -his hand wasn't supposed to be so cold, to feel so dead- and waved at her.

"Well, my job here is done, I have to go now." waving his hand to say goodbye, he turned to fly away, and then disappeared, a fine line of black smoke quickly fading being the only trace left of his presence.

Without any strength left to support her, Diane fell on her knees, hands still wrapped around the war hammer, staring at the spot once occupied by her beloved fairy. With the new grim reality crushing her, she cried her heart out.

* * *

Ok so I have this one AU where basically King becomes a half demon thing for reasons- and I really wanted to write this.


End file.
